PRECEPT

n. 1 rule, guide, principle, unwritten law, canon, guideline, dictate, code, injunction, law, commandment, instruction, injunction, directive, prescription, mandate, charge; statute, regulation, edict, ukase, decree, order, fiat, ordinance The Ten Commandments provide basic precepts of moral behaviour 2 maxim, proverb, axiom, motto, slogan, saying, byword, aphorism, apophthegm or apothegm: Does anyone follow the precepts set forth in Scripture?